Citizens Trust Bank, an FDIC-regulated financial institution, has partnered with Circle Internet Financial to hold some of its reserves in USD Coin (USDC). The measure, which the companies say would promote financial inclusion and digital literacy in the Atlanta metropolitan area, was announced earlier this week.

As part of a larger partnership between the two firms, Circle announced Feb. 24 that Atlanta-based Citizens Trust Bank will hold $65 million in USDC reserves. This partnership is part of a broader cooperation between the two organizations. Small businesses will have access to financing thanks to the bank’s USDC reserves, and those reserves will also be used for other projects aimed at expanding financial inclusion. According to Cynthia N. Day, president and CEO of Citizens Trust, owning USDC would also help improve the bank’s balance sheet.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has designated Citizens Trust Bank as a Minority-Owned Depository Institution (MDI), indicating that individuals belonging to minorities constitute a majority of the bank’s voting stock or of its board of directors. In 1947, the bank became a member of the Federal Reserve System.

The bank was able to attract an additional $220 million in deposits during the years 2020 and 2021. The most recent year for which the information is readily available to the public is 2021, and during that year, Citizens provided financing for commercial, consumer, and commercial mortgages. and residential. loans totaling $157 million.

More users are relying on dollar-pegged assets to hold collateral, trade cryptocurrencies, and generate income, which has led to the growth of stablecoin settlements at the same time as the explosion in decentralized finance what has happened in the last two years. Despite this, the use of stablecoins for payments is still relatively uncommon due to regulatory hurdles.